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Chapter 337: From A Destroyed Country to A Reunion

A rumour began to circulate that a kingdom had been destroyed.

Loren wondered which city-state had fallen this time, but this thought was put to rest when Shayna, the King of Death spirit who was living in his soul, gently chastised him.

Rather than a real country being destroyed, it was more common for a city-state, which typically came into being by becoming independent of a country for some reason, or by being formed by a group of people in similar circumstances, to be destroyed. However, before Shayna became the King of Death, she was the daughter of the governor of a city-state, and it was intolerable for her for such a thing to be dismissed as a common story.

While apologizing to Shayna in his mind, Loren wondered if it would be necessary to gather more detailed information.

They were currently in a town that was located very close to the border of Justinia Empire. Loren and his team had come to this place in the northern part of the continent, far from Kapha, to participate in the war between the Empire of Justinia and the Kingdom of Lombard at the request of the Adventurers’ Guild. Now that their work had finished, they were ready to return.

Using the route they took when coming meant passing through the territory of the demon race in the center of the continent, and although they had a relatively safe way to get through there, it was not a route Loren wanted to use often.

With no reason for them to hurry back to their base in the town of Kapha, which was in the southwestern part of the continent, they decided to take a proper route for a change. They declined the transportation arranged by the Adventurers’ Guild, and were just getting ready for the trip when this information came.

“What kingdom has been destroyed? If a kingdom was destroyed, it would be a big deal, wouldn’t it?”

They were in a restaurant on the ground floor of the inn where they had been staying.

After placing his order for breakfast with the waitress and taking a seat, Loren asked Lapis, who was sitting in front of him.

Dressed in a white priest’s uniform with her trademark ponytail swinging behind her, the girl answered Loren’s question as she poked at the meal she had apparently ordered earlier, which included a vegetable salad, a fried egg, and some hard-looking round bread.

“It seems to be the Kingdom of Lombard.”

Lapis said in a very casual tone as if it was nothing, but the answer shocked Loren greatly.

The Kingdom of Lombard was the country that had opposed the Empire of Justinia in the commission that Loren and his team had received earlier, and until just a few days ago, it was a country that existed properly.

Even if the Empire’s invasion had been swift and severe, Loren could not believe that a properly functioning country could be destroyed in such a short period of time.

“Was the Commander too much for them?”

In the battle against the Lombard Kingdom, the man in command of the Justinian Empire’s army was Yuri, the leader of the mercenary group, to which Loren had belonged before he became an adventurer.

Loren couldn’t even imagine what the man had done to attain the position of General, a key position in the army, in the time that had passed since their mercenary group had been destroyed. As he wondered if Yuri, a man of such skill, would be able to destroy an entire kingdom by means that he could not even fathom, Lapis shredded the round loaf of bread with her hands and glanced at something.

“If you are so curious, why don’t you ask him?”

Loren, who looked incredulous at being told such a thing, turned his head in the direction Lapis’ gaze was directed.

Thinking that there was no way this was possible, Loren saw an elderly man with a big smile on his face sitting at another table and immediately turned his gaze back to Lapis.

He managed to hide his inner thoughts from his face, but in his mind, he could hear Shayna making a big fuss.

“It’s a joke, isn’t it?”

Loren’s words, which he hoped were true, caused Lapis to shake her head gently with a pained expression on her face.

“I’d like to think it’s a joke, too. And if I am not mistaken, I am sure it is indeed him. Loren, are you sure he’s just a human? Could he be some kind of variant human?”

Lapis asked with a serious face, and Loren could not find any reassuring answer. Just then someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Under the current circumstances, it could be no one else. Loren turned back with a resigned look, and sure enough, there was Yuri, who still had a smile on his face. He had walked up to Loren before he knew it and was now standing by his side.

“Do you mind if I sit with you?”

“Suit yoursel… Wait, no. Don’t touch Lapis, okay? Don’t sit on her lap or something just because I tell you to suit yourself.”

“You’ve become so cautious. I thought I got you.”

Yuri said this in a rather regretful tone, and Lapis’ sense of caution suddenly jumped. She glared at him, watching his every move, but the man was not at all concerned. He pulled out a chair from a nearby table and sat down on the opposite side of Loren, to the right, still keeping a smile on his face.

“So, what is it that you want to ask me?”

“Is it true that Lombard Kingdom was destroyed?”

Loren was still in a state of disbelief even as he asked this. He could not shake off the feeling that there was no way it could happen.

Yuri neither nodded nor shook his head, but merely shrugged.

“You can say it’s true, or you can say it’s not true.”

“What does that mean?”

Loren thought that there were only two possible answers for his question, true or false, but Yuri’s answer was different from what he had expected.

“It’s true that it has been destroyed, but it’s also not wrong to say that it is not destroyed.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I mean, as a country, it has been destroyed, generally speaking.”

The waitress brought the breakfast Loren had ordered. After he had accepted it and thanked her, Yuri began to talk about the situation.

“You know how the battle at the border ended in a victory for us, then we launched a follow-up attack?”

“Yes, I know. We were in the middle of it.”

“My expectation was that, once we had made some inroads into the Kingdom’s territory, the Kingdom’s army would be serious about repelling us, and after a few more battles, the war would be over with them having to cut off a certain amount of territory.”

It was only natural that the Kingdom would not simply sit idly by and watch the Empire army invade.

The forces sent to the border could not possibly be the entire strength of the Kingdom’s army, and there must still be a larger force inside their territory. If they came to intercept and attack, the Empire’s troops Yuri commanded would be forced to withdraw and retreat. That had been Yuri’s prediction.

By retreating there with little damage, the battle itself would be a great victory for the Empire, and Yuri believed that they would be able to shave off a large portion of the Kingdom’s territory in the post-war negotiations.

Reality, however, was not as Yuri had envisioned it.

“There was hardly any resistance.”

“From the Kingdom’s side? That can’t be true. Another country’s army was within their territory. Regardless of what happens afterwards, there must be army reinforcements of a certain scale.”

“Albeit, there were none, and then some strange things happened. And that is the problem.”

Yuri said that the Empire’s forces had been able to advance fairly deep into the Kingdom’s territory due to little resistance.

If that were the only reason, Loren thought it would still be too early to conclude that the Kingdom had been destroyed, but Yuri went on to say that other strange things were happening in the Kingdom.

“There were no one left in their towns.”

“Maybe the people ran away because the Empire army was coming?”

It was not unusual for citizens to be displaced during a war. It was not strange to think that as long as one’s life was safe, one could recover even if they lost their possessions. And as the war became larger and more intense, the inhabitants of nearby villages and towns would all flee away from the front lines.

“Our soldiers are very well-behaved. They would not commit violence against the unarmed population. But, well, that doesn’t mean people believe us when we tell them not to run away.”

“I was a member of your mercenary group, so I understand, but… There is more to it, isn’t there?”

Yuri’s joking tone was light, but his expression was not. He nodded when Loren asked if there was more to the story.

“If this were just one or two towns, I would have the same thought as you did.”

“Well, they can’t all be empty.”

“We have sent out scouts and advance teams to every small village, town, and large city to make sure that they are all accounted for. We have confirmed that more than two digits of villages, towns, and three large cities are without a single inhabitant.”

Yuri’s statement changed even Lapis’ expression.

If the reports were true, it would mean that tens of thousands of people fled the country at once. But considering the time that elapsed between the defeat of the Kingdom army at the border battle and the invasion by the Empire army, there was too little time to manage such an exodus, no matter how deftly actions were taken.

Moreover, considering the space, materials, and food arrangements for such a large number of people, it was hard to believe that this could be accomplished in a normal way.

Yuri seemed to share this view; his expression was gloomy beyond belief for a general who had just won a war.

“I am certain something has happened. Something big, but I have no idea what it is.”

“You’re not advancing the army under those circumstances, are you?”

“Of course not. Rather, we are pulling back our forces and sending more scouts to ascertain the current situation.”

If Yuri had been an ordinary general, he might have thought it was strange, but would have continued to advance the army anyway, because they would be able to take the Kingdom’s territory without resistance if they continued on.

“It is quite simple to win battle, but it is far more important not lose sight of the bigger picture.”

“You’re such a pain…”

The gloomy expression on Yuri’s face changed to a smug look.

Lapis spoke up in place of Loren, who was probably right in what he was saying, but was unintentionally crude in his tone.

“So, you came all the way back from the front lines here, to this city, the army General?”

Loren’s eyes widened slightly at Lapis’ pointing finger.

The army itself must have encamped within the Kingdom’s territory, and Yuri, who was supposed to be in command of it, should not be here at this moment. Since he had travelled so far from the frontline, he must have had some deeper reason in mind rather than just to surprise them.

However, given Yuri’s personality, it was possible that he really came back just to surprise them; in that case, Loren thought he should be forgiven for punching him a few times, but Yuri cut him off in a serious tone.

“We need to investigate the Kingdom of Lombard. Directly or through the Adventurers’ Guild, it doesn’t matter, but will you help us, Loren?”

“Well… I don’t mind the work, but what do you plan to do about that?”

Loren nodded at Lapis.

The actual fact was, Lapis was trying to get Loren’s story from Yuri, but because Yuri was out on the front line, she missed the chance.

Now that Yuri had come back, even though the priority was certainly work, Lapis would try to extract information about Loren from him somehow. This did not seem to be an ideal situation for Yuri, who had been running away and disappearing in work.

“That, I guess we’ll just have to make do.”

“Well, good luck with that. Lapis is in charge of negotiating the rewards, benefits, and conditions of the job.”

“Please be gentle with me.”

Lapis was staring at Yuri, but he smiled at her with an expression that suggested he was not taking the situation too seriously.

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